Fruit of The Spirit
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Overview
What does it say on the tin?
This nine lesson series on The Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) was created by Kara Jenkins and features an original coloring book from Mandy Groce. Each study is focused on the character traits Paul lists and shows how they are the work of God’s Spirit in our lives. We’ve included several games, object lessons, and song suggestions.
These lessons and coloring sheets use the wording from the ESV translation. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
What do you get?
Access Ministry-To-Children resources online including to all nine lesson plans, the associated work sheets, game, music and song ideas. Session titles are:
- Love Lesson Plan
- Joy Lesson Plan
- Peace Lesson Plan
- Patience Lesson Plan
- Kindness Lesson Plan
- Goodness Lesson Plan
- Faithfulness Lesson Plan
- Gentleness Lesson Plan
- Self-control Lesson Plan
Who is it for?
Children aged 6-9 years old. Small groups. Downloadable.
Cost?
Free via website ministry-to-children.com/fruit-of-the-spirit-index
Review
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What is the overall quality of material presentation?
Presentation is good and very easy for the leader to follow. Each section is clear in its content and subheadings allow the leader to skim through with ease. There is also a lesson overview at the beginning of each session so leaders can quickly see if the content is appropriate for what they are running before delving in to more detail. The content can be displayed as a soft copy on the computer, or be printed in its pdf format.
How clear are its aims and outcomes?
This series gives a variety of aims at the beginning of each session, as well as some key ideas. The ideas for each lesson are exegetical and pedagogical. The aims for each lesson are: cognitive, affective and behavioural. The leader can clearly see what they are aiming for as teachers, and what the children should each get out of the sessions.
How accessible are the leader’s notes?
There are three key areas on the site that leaders need to navigate to for all session resources: the lesson itself, the colouring pages and the activity pages. The leader will need to read through the session layout and information to understand where each resource comes in, and will also need to decide whether or not to include any optional ideas listed on the series’ navigation page. These include: music, songs, games and more. The guidance notes through the lessons are clear, but the extras allow the leader some autonomy too.
Who could lead it?
This series should be run by adults confident working with children, who have a sound theological background in the fruit of the spirit. This could be a children’s worker, trainee children’s worker or another adult who has worked with children and helped them understand the Bible.
How helpful are the participants’ resources?
The participant resources are good and primarily consist of a worksheet and a colouring page or two per session. They are relevant to the topics and age appropriate for the target age group.
How good is any digital material?
Digital material for this series is external and consists mainly of YouTube links to accessory resources. Simple and relevant.
How much prep will I have to do?
Each session lays out the passages relevant and although they are not all included in the session, it is necessary for the leader to include reading these passages and studying them beforehand. This will give leaders a greater capacity to answer questions, and explain each concept more comprehensively.
Is there website support? Links?
The nature of this series is that it is accessed online, so the majority of resources can be reached via internal links. There are a few external links throughout to assist the sessions, which leaders should check are working prior to running the session.
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How well does it encourage interaction with the group?
Each session in this series has a diverse amount of interaction throughout. Children mostly interact with the leader during the Bible teaching time, and one another during the other sections. They may be asked to do activities such as sketches, crafts, songs or colouring sheets.
How well does it cater for a variety of both learning and delivery styles?
For the Bible teaching section, there are a mixture of approaches used in every lesson. For example, children may read the passage, then answer questions from the leader while also doing actions. Children who can concentrate for 15 minutes will learn the most from this section, while other children may solidify knowledge when they apply what they learn in the ‘personal pursuit’ section or in the set activities. There are a range of styles throughout, and leaders can also use the optional activities if they want to enhance delivery styles more.
How adaptable is it to my situation?
Each session is designed to run for 40 minutes with children aged 6-9 years old. There are 9 sessions, each covering one of the fruit of the spirit as laid out by Paul. These sessions are flexible and can be run in a chronologically or as one-off sessions. The lessons can be used as Sunday School material, or can be incorporated in to after school clubs or holiday clubs with the use of additional resources. Leaders will need to make sure they have all participant resources in the form of the activity sheets and any materials for crafts or activities. There is a supply list within the overview of each session so leaders will need to ensure they take time to look through what they are doing and buy materials. There are also instructions for immediate preparation before each lesson listed. Generally, the activities do not require a large space and are relatively low mess so easily and quickly cleared afterwards.
How well does it encourage people to work together in applying the material?
Children apply the material in three key ways, 1) by filling in worksheet blanks 2) by discussion with the leader and answering questions, and 3) by being set a small homework task after the session. This combination is brilliant as it allows children to apply the material verbally, practically and on paper.
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How much of the material is Bible-based?
Approximately 15 minutes of each 40-minute session is Bible based, with the rest of the material encouraging application and discussion.
How well is the biblical material presented and used?
Biblical presentation is primarily done in the format of: read, listen, answer. The children, together with the leader, read the passages, are given context by the leader (as laid out in the instructions) and then answer questions both throughout and at the end. Biblical material is then used to apply to worksheets, colouring sheets and the children’s lives as part of the homework set, and as a result of discussion.
How well does it apply biblical material to everyday life?
This series has a brilliant approach to helping children apply the biblical material to everyday life. After learning in the session what the fruit of the spirit is and what it means, children are then challenged to apply the concept to their own lives by completing a simple homework task to demonstrate the particular fruit of the spirit. They then come back to the next session, share what they have done and are encouraged to keep going with doing good and living out the fruit of the spirit in their lives.
Is there a particular theological perspective?
There is no particular theological perspective for this series. It encourages children to learn about the fruit of the spirit, understand them, and implement them in to their character and lives daily.
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How well does it inspire people towards whole-life discipleship?
The biggest way in which children are inspired towards whole life discipleship is by learning how to implement the fruit of the spirit in to their lives and characters. This series gives children practical tools by providing tasks for them to do in their own time to show each fruit of the spirit. For example, with the session on ‘Goodness” they go away and make five good choices in their week. They then come back and share with the group what they did which was good. Children also learn throughout the session how to be a disciple through reading the Bible, praying and worshipping.
How well does it encourage and enable people to grow in their faith?
This series introduces children to the concept of the fruit of the spirit and how this can be an active thing in their lives. They learn that after becoming followers of God, he gives us his spirit who produces good fruit in us. This then opens up a whole new area for children’s faith to grow as they learn what God has given them, and how they can use it for good.
How well does it stretch faith and vision of God and his purposes?
Through these lessons, children are taught that God is alive, through us, with his spirit today. This for some children will be something they have never heard about and will take their minds outside the realm of the historical God who spoke to Noah and Jonah in other popular children’s stories. Children learn that part of God’s purpose is to have them considering and living out the fruit of the spirit, and they are given practical tools to start doing this.
How well does it connect with real life issues?
This series connects with children’s lives by challenging how they act or react in real life issues. For example, do they get impatient or angry about some things? What would God want them to do in these times? The children are challenged to think about how they look at things, rather than how they react to things they have no control over.
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How well does it encourage personal evangelism?
Although this series doesn’t directly approach personal evangelism, there are aspects of sharing the gospel which are encouraged. For example, during the session on faithfulness, children learn what it means to be faithful to God and that part of that is acknowledging you know him. They then go away from the session with the homework of sharing with someone what they learned about faithfulness, writing down their name, and bringing it back with them the next week. This is a gentle approach which introduces children to the idea of sharing their faith with others.
How well does it encourage local or network-based community involvement?
This series encourages various community involvement throughout, based on children practically bringing to life the fruit of the spirit. For example, in the session on love, they are asked to go away and show love to others after writing out how to do that. For the session on kindness, they are challenged to do ten acts of kindness in the week following, even if they are in secret.
How well does it connect with global issues?
Not a specific focus for this series.
How well does it encourage global mission?
Not a specific focus for this series.